How to Become Stronger

Weight training for middle-aged and older people

By PAstudio/Shutterstock

The best way to make your muscles stronger is to exercise them against resistance strong enough to damage the muscle fibers. Then, when they heal, they will be stronger.

A review of 22 studies published in the journal Human Movement in 2020 looked at how to grow larger and stronger muscles. It found that the best way for untrained people to grow muscles is to use lighter weights with more repetitions, even though most trained athletes gained more strength by using heavier weights with fewer repetitions. Lifting lighter weights with more repetitions reduces your chances of injury.

How to Build Muscle Without Injuries

When middle-aged and older people start a weight lifting program, they often become injured, usually because they try to train like young people who pick the heaviest weight they can lift 10 times in a row and do three sets of 10 lifts. They feel sore for the next few days and when the soreness goes away, they lift heavy weights again, usually two or three times a week. This type of training often injures older novice weight lifters and ends their training program.